Jonathan Ng Cheong Tin_378259
studio_AIR University of Melbourne : Bachelor of Environments : Semester 1, 2012
DOUBLE HELIX LANTERN_JO NCT, MELBOURNE, 11’. My state of the art body lantern ; fabricated totally from paper using NURBS geometry. The design discourse of the design intent is about the feasibility of the double helix shape along with its curvatures and aerodynamic design. Can it make it to the real world or will it encounter the limitation of the materials used in the design.
DISCOURSE
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HELIOS HOUSE_ OFFICE DA, LOS ANGELES,USA,06-07. The design of the Helios House is quite similar to my precedent and the discourse from my personal precedent has been solved as shown in this architectural state of the art project; we can achieve complex NURBS geometry even for a bulky real life project as the Helios House.
ENVIRONMENTAL DISCOURSE: Critics of this gas station usually point out the huge irony in having an environmentally sustain- able building sell gasoline. Others find it a step in the right direction, and considering the car culture in Los Angeles, as well as the progressive nature of California in general, it is a perfect fit. Architecturally, it is quite appealing visually and offers a public lesson in sustainable design as well. All of the faceted stain- less steel panels are recycled, and the ground is composed of crushed glass. The roof of the low building is planted with drought resistant plants native to the area. It can also produce enough electricity from its solar panels to power three homes. People are bound to stare at it, it’s a masterpiece as the first LEED certified gas station and because of its exceptional/unconventional design. Philip Jodidio, Green Architecture Now! (Cologne: Taschen, 2009), p.255 .
INTRODUCTION
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ANTI-SMOG_ VINCENT CALLEBAUT, PARIS,07 . BEYOND GREEN...
The architect describes Anti-Smog as an “Innovation Center in Sustainable Development”.It is a state of the art complex which will use all available renewable energy forms to fight against the Parisian smog. In being a fully functional entity, the building is a utility for the city and also a big uplift to the surrounding. The Anti-Smog complex takes the idea of the “green” building a step further than usual: the architect proposes to reduce ambient pollution rather than simply taking care not to contribute to energy waste. Philip
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Jodidio, Green Architecture Now! (Cologne: Taschen, 2009), p.94 . This concept can be very well inspire the getaway project because of its breakthrough in the “green” discourse and due to the great help of the computer in enhancing/optimizing the concept; funky shape. It also takes the social discourse of a green building into political stance which has a big impact on the world scene ; a good way to put Werribee on the map.
CONTEMPORARY COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN TECHNIQUES HOUSE PROTOTYPE_ Greg Lynn, Long Island , NY 97’.
In some of Lynn’s projects, such as the House Prototype in Long Island, skeletons with a global envelope are deformed using inverse kinematics under the influence of various site-induced forces. In contrast to kinematics, the dynamic simulation takes into consideration the effects of forces on the motion of an object or a system of objects, especially of forces that do not originate within the system itself. (Kolarevic, Branko, 2003, pp.
20). This new technique/methodology is very interesting in a way that if a design can be shaped by the surrounding external factors such as kinematic (wind and rain) hence making it suitable for the proposal of the getaway project. How dynamic external factors can shape the architecture of the project which is perfectly located to experience these factors. One of the external factor can also be the flux of cars on the freeways.
INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL WATERLOO_ Nicholas Grimshaw Architects,London , 93’.
This project above offers a clear demonstration of conceptual and developmental benefits afforded by the parametric approach to design. Instead of modeling each arch separately, a generic parametric model was created based on the underlying design rules in which the size of the span and the curvature of individual arches were related. A new breakthrough in computational design was achieved by Grimshaw architects
and, a highly complex hierarchy of interdependences could be parametrically modeled, allowing iterative refinement, i.e. the dimensional fine-tuning of the project in all stages of its development, from conceptual design to construction. The gateway project will be a state of the art design due to the high complexity of forms, achievable by such a “savoir faire”. COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN
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MOBIUS HOUSE_ UNStudio, Netherlands, 1993–1998.
Through this “Smooth” architectural project, we can analyse that new topological forms such as the torus and the mobius have been used in the construction context. The new balance of these geometries can reflect an interesting discourse about deformation of space. It is definitely striking aesthetically and surely a very desirable key feature of the new gateway project.
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The organizational and formal structure of the private house is based on a double-locked torus, the mobius loop. The intertwining trajectory of the loop relates to the 24-hour living and working cycle of the family, where individual working spaces and bedrooms are aligned but collective areas are situated at the crossing points of the paths. (Kolarevic, Branko, 2003, pp. 7)
This project recasts the initial ambition for vertical expansion. It envisages a rapidly deployable structure that will provide centrally located resources in areas struck by disaster. The tensegrity principle is explored for its potential to provide a feasible structural system that enables the deployment of a [near] instant skyscraper. This design proposal was developed in collaboration with Cache Studio as an entry to the 2009 Evolo skyscraper competition. The motivation for this project was based
on earlier observations regarding the incredible flexibility and adaptive nature of tensegrity structures. From 416 entries in the competition , [near] Instant High-Rise was awarded an honorable mention and has been singled out as exemplary in online architectural forums by bringing “some new refreshing ideas [that justify] the persistence of this competition� (Boiteaoutils 2009)
COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN
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CONCLUSION After my research on contemporary computational design techiniques, my perspective on these new methodologies have changed. I was unaware to what extent the new technology could go in the buidling industry particularly in the design process.“For the first time in history, Architects are designing not the specific shape of the building but as a set of principles encoded as a sequence of parametric equations by which specific instances of the design can be generated and varied in time as needed.” (Kolarevic, Branko, 2003, pp. 18) So for we, designers, the goals are not fix anymore, it can change with a single difference in the equation. The design outcome maybe spontaneous and unpredictable in a way that innovation is ensured. Relating that to the project Getaway, the “high-tech” design tool that we will be using will determine not only the outcome but also it will contribute to its discourse.
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SCRIPTING CULTURES
ICD ITKE RESEARCH PAVILION_ Acim Menges and Jan Knippers, University of Stuttgart, 2010. In 2010, the Institute for Computational Design (ICD) and the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) designed and constructed a temporary research pavilion. The innovative structure demonstrates the latest developments in material-oriented computational design, simulation, and production processes in architecture. The result is a bending-active structure made entirely of extremely thin, elastically-bent plywood strips. The information model was individually programmed computer script (in RhinoScript ÂŽ). From the twodimensional drawing of the production-related and machine-specific data to the three-dimensional model .This innovative approach to digital data management in the architectural design process makes use of modern software tools, by expanding this project-specific functionality. The modern script of this 3-D geometric model could
be generated with the help of over 6400 lines long code of the information model, all relevant data for the calculation in the finite element analysis software and the CNC machine-specific data. (M. Fleischmann, S. Schleicher, J. Lienhardt, 2010) . Although that the model’s geometry corresponding shape-determining factors such as non-operating properties to the finished construction, traffic and wind loads have not been taken into account, it nevertheless has allowed a realistic evaluation of possible designs in the form of true material; Digital feasibility studies. That this one at all times, especially represented in the earliest design phases present, the central component of the project, were a particular concern and an important aspect of innovation in the digital modeling process. A very interesting feature/asset to have in our future proposal.
SCRIPTING CULTURES
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From Scripting Culture (Burry,M , 2010) , it is mentioned that the main challenge of the scripting generation is the move from the creation of inventive articulated patterns, and the small-scale installations to the full scale architectural projects where scripting can unleash an entire universe of opportunities for architectural space. (Matias del Campo, SPAN)This is what the research pavilion tried to demonstrate how this is possible. A very good point which the author proposed is that ‘customisation’ enable by the scripting agent is a very powerful motive for using a such design tool as grasshopper, pushing the limits of computational capabilities, its the same as thinking outside the box. In a way the scripting tool is enhancing our creative freedom by not only depending on the presets or database of the software engineers. The role of the computer in the design process,extensively criticized,is suggested to be a practical ‘aide-de-camp’ and a digital design agent. The designer who wants to be completely in control of the results must be in control of the process. To be in control of the process, the designer must be in control of the tools.
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The tools are computation, therefore a designer who wants to be in control must also be a scripter (or suffer the consequence of the unseen influence of using other people’s tools). (Robert Aish) Today’s scripters are inventive; however, scripting is a relatively new technique for the exploration of architectural designs and designers are still figuring out new potentials for using scripting as a design tool. (Brady Peters) In this way the scripting culture, particularly in our context , the visual script rather than textual, will bring new potential outcome to the the Gateway project.